EXPERIMENTAL DIGITAL PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF STRUCTURES.

This paper presents the formulation of a predictive control law and its implementation in a computer control system for the experimental seismic response of a model structure. Two main characteristics of the control system are emphasized: (a) the discrete-time nature of the control algorithm used by a computer in the closed loop and (b) the existence of a time delay between the measurement and the control action. Most common way to take into account both characteristics has been to formulate a continuous - time control law with a compensation for the time delay. In that case a discrete approximation had to be made a posteriori for computer programming. Alternatively, the predictive control suggested herein is a digital control strategy which directly yields in a simple discrete-time control algorithm for computer control of systems with time delay. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the capability of this predictive control.